For this assignment, read Chapter 9 in the text. In addition, review the posted video “Young Gamblers.” Your task is to outline the findings in Chapter 9, outline the findings you discern from the video, and COMPARE AND CONTRAST the findings in the readings and those you find in the video. (Are any of the findings from the readings supported by the “Young Gamblers” in the video?) I HAVE POSTED A VIDEO OUTLINING THE TYPICAL COMPARE AND CONTRAST ESSAY . . . IT WILL HELP YOU GREATLY!!! NO LIMIT OR MINIMUM PAGES . . .THIS IS ALL YOURS!! You may find some surprising results. Video: https://youtu.be/LxBAEbxemnQ Chapter 9:Gambling is clearly a popular normative rather than a deviant behavior among young people and it is not uncommon for children to begin gambling for money while they are still very young. This may have serious ramifications in later life since research on other potentially addictive behaviors has found that early involvement is likely to produce addiction in adulthood. 2 A review of the earliest literature on the incidence of youthful gambling reported that from nearly half (49.3%) to nearly all (91%) of all children and adolescents sampled in Canada, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States have gambled for money at some time in their lives and that from nine percent to 3 9 percent were regular gamblers. 3 A subsequent survey of high school students in Atlantic City, New Jersey found that 64 percent had gambled at the city’s casinos. M ore specifically, 4 2 percent of 1 4-year-olds sampled, 49 percent of 15-year-olds, 63 percent of 16-year-olds, 71 percent of 172372 38 T he Sociology of Gambling year-olds, 76 percent of 18-year-olds, and 88 percent of 19-year-olds admitted to casino gambling. Many did so repeatedly, often on a weekly basis, and most (79%) did so with their parents’ knowledge. 4 A study of nearly 900 New Jersey high school students reported that 91 percent had gambled at least once in their lives, 86 percent had done so within the past year, and 32 percent gambled one or more times per week throughout the past year. 5 A survey of 1,612 high school students in Quebec City found that only 2.2 percent of those who had ever gambled had not done so in the past year. The researchers therefore stressed that of all the young people they sampled, “very few stopped gambling once they started.” 6 More recent research has revealed similar trends among the youth of North America. For example, 86 percent of New York 7 and 89.7 percent of Minnesota 8 adolescents have gambled. Researchers in Oregon reported that of 1,000 adolescents between 13 and 17 years of age, 75 percent had gambled at least once in their lives, 66 percent had gambled in the past year, 13.3 percent gambled weekly, and 4 percent gambled daily . Although it is illegal for them to do so, 39 percent have played the Oregon Lottery and 30 percent did so in the past year. Over one-third (35%) were able to make their own lottery purchases while half (50%) obtained their tickets from members of their own family. Nearly one-fifth (19%) had gambled in a casino and over one-tenth (1 2%) had done so in the past year. A few (less than 1%) had gambled on the internet. Boys and older subjects were significantly more likely to gamble than girls or younger subjects. 9 A study of 3,426 junior and senior high school students in Quebec City reported that 87 percent had ever gambled, 77 percent had done so within the last year, and 13 percent regularly gambled one or more times per week. Of 8 17 Montreal students enrolled in grades seven, nine, and 11, over four-fifths (80.2%) reported gambling at least once in the past year and more than one-third (35.1%) did so weekly. The average age at which they began gambling was 11.5 years. The most popular forms of gambling in this sample were card games (56.2%), lotteries (52.4%), bingo (35.2%), sports betting (34%), electronic gaming machines (3 1 .8%), sports lottery tic kets (3 0.3%), and games of skill. Although casino gambling is illegal for those in this age group, 7.5 percent of the sample had done so. Although females were just as likely to have gambled in the past year as males (78.8% F; 81.5% M), males were twice as likely as females to be regular weekly gamblers (46% M; 22.5% F). Females were more likely than males to have played bingo and purchased lottery tickets during the past year but participation rates of males exceeded those of females in all other forms of gambling. 11 A questionnaire survey administered to 200 adolescents (9 7 males; 1 0 2 females; 1 gender unknown) between 12 and 18 years of age living in southern California found that although 4 1 percent felt that legalized gambling would be appropriate for teenagers, 83 percent of theS pecial Population: Youthful Gamblers 2 39 males and 61 percent of the females had gambled at least once. Nearly half (44%) of the gamblers but only one-quarter (26%) of the nongamblers reported that at least one of their parents gambled. In order of preference the most common forms of gambling were sports betting (60.6%), cards (42.3%), lotteries (40.1%), horses (39.4%), and casinos (16.5%). This study also found that the likelihood of gambling increased with age. The largest reported wager and loss were both $200; the largest reported win was $500. Most subjects made the highly unlikely claim that they won more often than they lost. 12 Far higher participation rates were reported in a survey of 935 Windsor, Ontario high school students (age 14 to 19 years): 96.2% had gambled at some time in their lives and 90.8 percent had done so in the past year. Once again, it was found that the likelihood of gambling increases with age. 13 A United States national telephone survey of 534 adolescents (16 and 17 years of age) reported that about two-thirds had gambled in the past year. Although they tended to favor card games and instant lotteries some had also engaged in racetrac k and casino gambling. About two percent admitted that they had lost more than $100 in one day. Of these, roughly two-thirds were male. 1 4 A suburban New York high school survey of 318 students in grades 9 through 12 reported that nearly three-quarters (72.6%) had ever gambled. In addition to card games, sports betting, and games of skill, a number of the subjects had also participated in suc h illegal forms of gambling as casino gaming, lotteries, scratc h-off cards, Quic k Draw (a form of keno found primarily in drinking establishments), and parimutuel betting. Some claimed to have lost more than $300 dollars over the past two weeks. Here, too, a number of gender differences were noted: far more girls (36.1%) than boys (17.9%) had remained abstinent, those who did gamble did so far less frequently than boys (26.2% of the boys and 6.9% of the girls had gambled more than ten times in the previous 12 months), and boys tended to start gambling at a younger age than girls. Although the likelihood of gambling tended to increase with age, 65 percent of the boys and 43.7 percent of the girls started gambling before entering high school. This study also found that the most frequent gamblers were the most frequent alcohol users. 15 A very large survey of 11,736 Louisiana school children and adolescents in grades 6 through 12 found that only 14 percent had never gambled and that 16.5 percent played the lottery on a weekly basis. This study also found that the heaviest gamblers were the heaviest tobacco, alcohol, and other drug users. 1 6 An even larger survey of 13,549 adolescents in grades seven, nine, ten, and twelve living in Canada’s A tlantic provinces found that 70.3 percent of the respondents had gambled at least once during the year prior to the study. In order of preference the most common forms of gambling were scratc htabs whic h were played by over half (5 5.9%) of the sample, card games (3 2.9%), lotteries (32.9%), sports betting (26.4%), bingo (26.2%), gaming machines (14.8%), and Sport S elect (1 4.6%), a specialized lottery game. 172 40 T he Sociology of Gambling Recent surveys in Australia and the United Kingdom reveal that gambling is a popular pastime among adolescents in these countries, as well. A study of 1,017 Australian adolescents and young adults between 14 and 25 (average 17) years of age found that more than three-quarters (75.5%) were active gamblers most of whom (67.7%) gambled with family members. 1 8 A recent survey of 204 boys between the ages of 11 and 16 in Birmingham, England found that 42 percent had purchased their own instant lottery stratchcards. The researcher also found a significant relationship between the scratchcard purchasing behavior of the parents and that of their children. 1 9 Finally, a similar study of 256 children between the ages of 13 and 15 in Devon County, England reported that 56 percent had played the National Lottery on-line game and 54 percent had purchased instants scratchcards. Household participation and income were the strongest predictors of scratchcard gambling. 2 0 Gambling is a surprisingly common and well established activity among younger c hildren, as well. A survey of British adolescents reported that the average age at which gambling began was eight years nine months for girls and eight years three months for boys. 2 1 The large Louisiana student survey mentioned above found that 86 percent of those sampled had gambled and that the average age at which they started gambling was 11.2 years. 2 2 The previously mentioned adolescent survey of a N ew York suburb found that over half (5 8.4%) of the subjects admitted to gambling before the ninth grade and nearly one-quarter (24.6%) claimed to have started in grade six or earlier. 23 A small survey of 104 Montreal school children in grades four, six, and eight (51 males and 53 females aged 9 to 14) found that 70 percent had gambled while 5 3 percent regularly gambled once a week or more. 2 4 Although more males than females had ever gambled (78% M; 60% F) and were regular gamblers (58% M; 47% F), these gender differences were not statistically significant. The researchers therefore speculated that the previously reported gender differences might become more pronounced in later adolescence. Moreover, the tendency to gamble did not change with age since no significant age-related prevalence differences were found although the older c hildren tended to risk more money than younger children, particularly among males. A simulated gambling experiment utilizing a computerized blackjack game revealed that males not only tended to gamble for higher stakes than females but that they also tended to win more. Of all gamblers, 27 percent felt that they gambled more than they wanted and 13 percent felt that they gambled too muc h. Males, who accounted for most of those in both categories, comprised 84 percent of those who gambled more than they wanted and 1 00 percent of those who indicated that they gambled too muc h. Interestingly, the highest proportion of those who indicated that their gambling was excessive were the youngest, those in grade four, of whom 43 perS pecial Population: Youthful Gamblers 2 41 cent felt that they gambled more than they wanted and 29 percent that they gambled too much. In contrast, only four percent of the sixth graders and nine percent of the eighth graders felt that their gambling was excessive. Of equal interest was the finding that the older children become, the less likely they are to fear being caught for gambling. Similar findings were reported in a larger and more extensive study of 1,320 of Quebec’s primary school students in grades four through six who ranged between eight and 12 years of age. 25 The survey found that 86 percent had gambled for money at some time in their lives and that more than 40 percent were regular bettors who gambled at least once a week. Of the weekly gamblers 8.4 percent played cards, 8.2 percent bet on sports, and 7.7 percent played lotteries. The study also confirmed earlier findings that the likelihood of gambling increases with age since 80.5 percent of those nine or younger, 85.2 percent of those 10 years of age, 87.6 percent of those 11 years old, and 94 percent of those 12 or older had done so. Rates of weekly gambling, whic h ranged from 39.8 percent in the youngest, through 36.7 percent and 40.5 percent respectively in the 10 and 11 year groups, to 48.2 percent among the oldest children, also increased with age. The most popular forms of gambling among these children were lotteries (61.1% participation), bingo (55.5%), card games (53.3%), sports betting (47.9%), betting on “specific events” (3 2.3%), slot or video poker machine gambling (28.6%), and games of skill (1 0.7%). O ver one-third of the c hildren (3 7.2%) admitted that they had risked something that was dear to them including some surprisingly large sums of money: 11.4 percent had wagered more than $15 in a single day, 8.3 percent bet between $10 and $15, 19.5 percent bet between $5 and $10, and 3 8.5 percent bet from $1 to $5 in one day. The money they used for gambling came from a variety of sources including allowances (62.5%), employment (57.6%), gifts (51.8%), and borrowing (7.9%); some (1.6%) admitted to stealing their gambling money. Most children—70.9 percent of the youngest to 85.6 percent of the oldest—gambled with their parents. Because more boys (89.7%) gambled than girls (81.9%), and because boys tended to gamble with their parents more so than girls, the researc hers suggested that boys might be more greatly influenced by modeling or social learning than girls. They therefore suggested that future studies should investigate the degree to which parental influence and modeling might exacerbate gambling behavior, particularly among boys. Although this study was not intended to assess the prevalence of pathological gambling among children of this age group, the researc hers felt that such studies are warranted by the fact that some of their young subjects already appeared to be developing potentially serious gambling problems. Findings and conclusions of a similar nature were also reported in a later study of 4 7 7 M ontreal secondary sc hool children ranging in age from 9 to 14 2 6 and a much larger survey of 3,426 junior and senior2 42 T he Sociology of Gambling high school students in Quebec. 2 7 Virtually all (98%) of the seventh and eighth graders sampled in an Alberta survey had gambled within the previous 12 months. 28 Problem Gambling As a result of their early exposure to gambling, increasing numbers of children and adolescents are encountering gambling problems. It has been found, for example, that greater proportions of problem (26.4% to 36%) than nonproblem gamblers (7% to 10%) in Quebec had their first gambling experience in adolescence. 29 A United States study of adult members of Gamblers Anonymous in a mid-Atlantic state found that the average age at which they started gambling for money was 13: 37 percent of the sample
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